Michigan State Football: 5 overreactions from shaky win over Utah State

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EAST LANSING, MI – AUGUST 31: Jalen Greene #21 of the Utah State Aggies tries to escape the tackle of Josh Butler #19 of the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on August 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 38-31. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

3. Defense isn’t as good as we thought

Most of these overreactions are of the ‘way too early to tell’ variety, and the defense being criticized is one of them.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fair to knock the defense for allowing 31 points and over 300 yards passing to Utah State, but Jordan Love played a great game and the Aggies had an up-tempo offense that prevented the Spartans from getting substitutions in and wore down the unit as a whole. That’s not something this team is used to.

Moreover, it’s those dinks and dunks in the passing game that always doom the defense. Northwestern did it last season where they excelled on the short slants, crossing routes and screens with the defensive backs playing way too far off the line of scrimmage. That’s more of a coaching adjustment and mistake on the staff’s part.

Joe Bachie had himself a nice game, as did Khari Willis, Mike Pansiuk, Raequan Williams and Kenny Willekes, but the rest of the group didn’t quite play consistently.

We’ll learn a lot more about this defense against Arizona State.

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